


A Perfect Wedding Cake

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bitty and Jack are so in love, Bitty has a lot of southern relatives, Gen, I don't know anything about how weddings work, M/M, Shitty cries the most at the wedding, Wedding Fluff, desecration of Bitty's sacred cooking, or what happens during the wedding after party, so Jack would have plenty of time for a honeymoon, surely they'd get married in the off season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23595670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Bitty is determined to make the perfect cake for his wedding, and Jack is determined to make sure that the wedding goes off without a hitch.
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Comments: 12
Kudos: 108





	A Perfect Wedding Cake

Jack fumbled to grab his phone off the bedside table to silence the alarm, and then yawned as he rolled over and reached out for his fiance. He frowned when he was only met with empty space, and it wasn’t even warm. Jack sat up and looked around the bedroom blearily, but there was no sign of Bitty. Perhaps that should have been a bit more concerning, considering what day it was, but once Jack shook off most of his sleepiness, he could clearly smell some baking going on.

Resigning himself to getting up now (which happened to be exactly when he was supposed to get up anyways), Jack made his way to the kitchen. Bitty was still wearing just his pajamas (aka a tee shirt he’d stolen from Jack that was long enough on him to cover his boxers), and there were a few puffs of flour on his arms and chest. Jack reached up to rub at his eyes as he let out another yawn. “What are you making? And how long have you been up?”

Bitty shrugged. “Couldn’t really sleep. Too nervous, you know? And I’m making the cake.”

“The cake?” It took Jack a moment to figure out what Bitty was talking about, but then he tilted his head to look at his fiance in confusion. “But you made the cake two days ago, and it came out beautifully. Remember how it made your mom cry?”

Bitty snorted. “Like that’s been difficult to do since her and Coach got here.”

Alright, Jack would give Bitty that one. His fiance’s mother had been in constant waterworks mode all week. Jack couldn’t even imagine how much she’d cry during the actual ceremony. But then he shook his head as he tried to bring himself back around to the point. “The point is that that cake was already perfect.” He walked over the fridge to open it and double check the cake that should have been in there, but it was conspicuously absent. “Bitty? Where’s the cake?”

“I’m making it right now,” Bitty helpfully reminded him. Jack just stared in disbelief, and finally Bitty sighed and turned away from where he’d been staring intently at the oven. “Alright, I’ll admit that it was good, but do you really want to have a good cake when you could have a perfect one?”

Jack glanced at the stove clock. “Well, I guess we’d better hope that you can have this one done and decorated in the next five hours. Because we both know that we’ll need at least two hours just to get ready. You were the one who convinced me of that, remember?”

Bitty nodded absent-mindedly as he turned back to his cake watching. “It’ll be ready, I promise. And it’ll be perfect.”

Jack rolled his eyes as he moved closer so that he could kiss the top of Bitty’s head. “Even if it came out as a pile of mud, it would still be a perfect day.”

“Oh, don’t say that,” Bitty whispered in a horrified voice. Jack just laughed, and then made his way back to the bedroom. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, and then pulled on his sneakers. 

He called back over his shoulder as he headed to the front door, “I’m going out for a run! I’ll be back in a bit!”

“Okay!” Bitty called back. 

Jack smiled to himself as he left the apartment. He stuck his earbuds in as he took the elevator down to the ground floor, and his smile only grew as his running playlist came on. It was one that Bitty had put on his phone because “This will absolutely put you in the mood to work out and push yourself!” Maybe a few years ago he would have been too embarrassed to listen to some of the things Bitty liked, nervous that someone everyone who saw him would know exactly what was playing. But now he didn’t care, because honestly, pretty much all of the music Bitty picked out for Jack were ‘bops’. 

It was nice to run around and work off all of the jitters that he hadn’t thought he’d had. And he knew that Bitty was doing the same, though in his case instead of exercising he was remaking the cake that had taken several painstaking hours to perfectly decorate. Jack didn’t even know why either of them were so nervous, when their lives wouldn’t really be changing much after today. And yet it was such a momentous occasion for both of them. 

On his way back, Jack stopped to grab coffee for Bitty and himself, though he got both of them decaf because he was pretty sure that they didn’t need any further reason to be jittery. 

He returned to an apartment that smelled amazing, and his stomach growled loudly. Jack went into the kitchen to hand over the coffee, but Bitty wasn’t in there. There were, however, enough cooling racks with cakes on them that they seemed to cover every flat surface in the room. 

Jack put down his own coffee so that he could grab a cold water bottle out of the fridge, and then he made his way around the apartment to find Bitty. He turned out to be in the room that they’d designated as their shared office space, still wearing his sleep clothes, and mumbling to himself as he looked at several spreadsheets. 

Before Jack could say anything, Bitty’s head jerked up. “Is that coffee I smell?” Jack wordlessly held out the cardboard cup, and Bitty eagerly grabbed it and took several deep gulps before giving Jack a content smile. He got up and stood on his tiptoes so that he could give Jack a quick kiss. “Thanks honey. Now why don’t you go pop into the shower?”  
Jack laughed. “What, you don’t want to marry a sweaty, stinky man?”

Bitty tried not to grin, but he’d never been all that good at keeping his emotions contained. “I am perfectly happy to marry a sweaty, stinky man, so long as he is not sweaty and stinky at the wedding,” he announced. “Now go take a shower before I tweet about your terrible hygiene or something.”

Jack pretended to salut. “Yes sir! Wouldn’t want all those internet fans knowing what you have to put up with.” Then he suddenly swooped forward to pull Bitty into a hug, startling a shriek out of the man. “So how long do those cakes need to cool, anyways?”

“A while. Why?”

Jack gave Bitty a mischievous grin. “Well you need to shower too, right?”

,,,

Bitty stood at the counter mostly dressed, with his tie draped loosely on either side of his neck, his jacket only partially buttoned, and no shoes or socks on his feet. There was a look of intense concentration on his face and his tongue stuck just a little bit out of the corner of his mouth as he put on the last minute decorations with perfectly steady hands. Jack waited until Bitty pulled back to speak. “You need to finish getting dressed if you don’t want us to be late to our own wedding.”

Bitty looked up, and then his eyes widened. “Oh, is it time to go already? I can put my shoes on in the car-”

Jack laughed as he reached out to smooth back a strand of Bitty’s hair that had broken free from the hair gel that was supposed to be holding it down. “I think we have enough time for you to at least put your shoes on here.”

“I’ll just go do that, then. Will you put the cake in that carrier and bring it outside? One of the caterers should be waiting to pick it up and take it to the reception hall.”

It was risky to agree, since that would make Jack liable for any damage the cake might occur on the way, but he nodded anyways, and moved to do as he was asked, gently nudging the beautiful looking cake into the box that Bitty had indicated. 

He moved very slowly and cautiously the whole way down, not wanting even the slightest smidge of frosting to go astray. Not only because Bitty had worked so hard on it and it was a work of art, but also because Jack didn’t dare risk the wrath of a Bitty whose baking had been ruined.

,,,

Jack didn’t end up crying by a mere technicality, but between Susanne and Shitty, there had been plenty of tears flowing. It had probably been a very lovely ceremony, but Jack had been too distracted looking at Bitty the entire time to really pay much attention, and only knew when to say his line because Bitty lightly kicked him in the shin. 

Afterwards, everybody stayed in the church to chat for a while, which Jack thought the reception hall was for. The guests from the Falconers and Samwell both seemed ready to leave, but there seemed to be a never ending line of old Georgian women who all complimented Jack both for being tall and having blue eyes, neither of which were things that he controlled. 

It felt like forever before Jack and his- his husband were able to politely tell everyone that it was time for the after party, and then rushed out to their car. As they slid into their seats, they both started laughing loudly. “Oh I hope someone with a camera caught the look on your face when my aunt pinched your cheek!”

Jack couldn’t think of anything reasonable to say to that, so he just stuck out his tongue and then leaned over to give Bitty a long kiss before he straightened up in his seat and started the car.

When they got to the reception hall, pretty much everyone else was already there, and Bitty looked around the room in bemusement. “I don’t remember ordering quite this many flowers?” Every table had a large bouquet on it in addition to the tasteful little vases that also had flowers in them.

Jack reached up to awkwardly scratch at the back of his neck. “I had only meant to buy one, but…”

Bitty just shook his head fondly, and then reached out to grab Jack’s hand. “Come on, let’s go say hello to everyone before we eat, Mr. Zimmerman-Bittle.”

“Of course, Mr. Bittle-Zimmerman.” Then Jack let himself get swept into all of the congratulations and hugs and handshakes and he knew by the end of the day his face was going to be sore from smiling so damn much, but it was completely worth it.

,,,

Jack gave Shitty the most unamused look he could summon up. “What is wrong with you?”

Shitty threw his hands up into the air. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. If anyone should get blamed for this, it’s gravity and bad luck.”

Jack frowned. “Are you telling me that you’re not joking?”

Shitty shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The cake isn’t really a cake so much as a pile of mush on the floor. I did manage to save this, though.” He held up the little cake topper that were miniature versions of Jack and Bitty wearing their tuxes and their helmets and skates, both of them holding hockey sticks that were being used to fight over a mini pie instead of a puck. Bitty had gotten it custom made from some fancy company that did an excellent job of it. 

Jack sighed as he took the cake topper, and then reached up to press his free hand against his forehead. “He worked so hard on that cake.”

“I know, man. Which is why I’m going to let you break the news to him!” He gave Jack a hearty pat on the back before running away like a coward, and Jack just sighed again. After all the nice things Shitty had said in his best man speech, he just turned around and abandoned Jack like this. Real nice of him. 

Jack wiped some of the frosting off, and then stuck the cake topper into his pocket before he left to go find Bitty. He quickly tracked down his fi- his husband, surrounded by his Samwell friends. Jack moved up and put his arm around Bitty’s shoulder. “Hey, you guys don’t mind if I borrow him for a minute, do you?”

Lardo raised one eyebrow, and Jack recognized the look of a woman about to embarrass him, so he quickly dragged Bitty off in an act of desperate self-preservation. Once they were a safe distance away, Bitty looked up at Jack in bemusement. “Is everything alright?”

How was he supposed to tell Bitty that his perfect cake was nothing more than crumbs and frosting? Maybe it was best to just rip the bandaid off quickly. “Someone accidentally knocked down your cake and now it’s ruined.” Then he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to face the inevitable look of disappointment that would be in Bitty’s eyes.

He definitely didn’t expect to hear Bitty start laughing, and Jack cautiously cracked one eye open, wondering if Bitty was losing it. But Bitty didn’t look particularly mad or crazy, and Jack found himself relaxing. He relaxed even more when Bitty reached out to take both of Jack’s hands. “I was thinking about it on the ride over, and I came to the conclusion that I actually like how the original cake came out better than the new one.”

“I thought you threw the old one away?”

Bitty rolled his eyes. “That would have been such a waste. I just moved it to make some space. I’m sure no one will miss us if we pop out to go and grab that one.”

“We’re the ones who just got married. There may be a lot of people here, but I still think they might notice our absence.”

Bitty shrugged. “Well, they definitely won’t start dancing without us, anyways. They wouldn’t dare. Come on, we’ll be quick. Our first adventure as- as a married couple.”

Well, Jack could hardly turn down an offer when it was put like that. “Alright, but we really should be quick.” 

They both laughed as they left through the back kitchen door, and hurried to the car, acting as though they were sneaking around like a couple of very bad spies. Jack was glad that he and Bitty had both agreed to leave their phones at home (mostly because Jack wasn’t quite sure that Bitty would be able to refrain from live-tweeting their own wedding), because he didn’t want to see the amount of notifications he was probably getting as everyone wondered where they were.

They hurried to the apartment, and Bitty revealed the original cake resting peacefully in the second fridge, which was solely dedicated to all of Bitty’s baking supplies. Bitty carefully boxed it, and then they returned to the reception, sneaking in through the same way they’d left, and depositing the cake where it was supposed to be. They started to head back out, but then Jack paused and pulled out the cake topper to stick in its rightful place.

With that taken care of, they returned to the main hall, and tried to avoid blushing at the knowing looks everyone gave them. It seemed easier to just let them think whatever they want. Jack just tried not to think about what his parents had assumed about the disappearance of the newlyweds.

Luckily, everyone’s attention shifted to the dance floor, as Bitty announced that it was finally time to party. He and Jack claimed the first dance, which Jack had practiced for weeks to make sure he wouldn’t mess it up, and he enjoyed the feeling of being pressed up against Bitty as they swayed around the room together. 

When the song ended, more people migrated into the designated dancing space, and a bizarrely eclectic mix of music kept the dancers from growing complacent. One of Jack’s favorite moments of the evening was when some song had come on and Bitty had started jumping around, saying that he had skated to that song for a competition once. Then he jumped right into a routine that was as close to skating without skates as a person could get, and Jack found himself watching in awe as Bitty moved so gracefully. Jack really was a very lucky man.

And he even thought that when Bitty dragged him into the dance, and moved into position so that Jack could lift him. Jack laughed, but did as he was asked, and everyone clapped and cheered for them. When Jack set Bitty back down, they just looked at each other, smiling when their eyes met, and Jack couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.

(The only part of the whole event that Jack may have guiltily admitted to enjoying more was the moment the cake was brought out, and Shitty just stared at it in wide-eyed shock before turning to ask Bitty if he was some kind of baking sorcerer, since the cake looked the same as the ruined one to untrained eyes. Maybe Jack would let his best man in on the secret later. Maybe.)

Overall it was the perfect wedding, everything that Jack could have possibly wanted. And best of all was that when he and Bitty were sitting on the plane to Paris for their honeymoon, and Bitty fell asleep with his head on Jack’s shoulder, Jack knew that he was going to be able to relish this feeling for the rest of his life. 


End file.
